Arekara - The Life After (2013): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 2013, Arekara - The Life After is a documentary film directed by Momoko Seto, running about 16 minutes.

What it’s about. In February 2012, I went to Ishinomaki, a town North of Tokyo that was half destroyed by the tsunami of March 11th, 2011, to meet the disaster victims who now live in temporary housing. I spent several days in the North, under the snow, listening to these people talk candidly about what they had lived through, telling their own stories without the media as an intermediary. Their testimonies were terrifying, harsh and sad, but at the same time touching, sincere and human. From the pictures and interviews that I collected, I decided to make a film, not to reflect how awful the events were, but to communicate the singular and even surreal nature of each person’s experience. My intention wasn’t so much to focus on this particular event in Japan, but rather to make these stories more universal as a way of paying tribute to all the victims of natural disasters throughout the world.

Who’s in it. Arekara - The Life After stars Kôichi Nakazato, Shigetsugu Gotô, Sumiko Abe and Yûji Ishimori, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 6.0/10, Arekara - The Life After has drawn a solid, mixed-to-positive response.

Where to watch. Streaming options change often. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch Arekara - The Life After page.

If you liked it. Fans of Arekara - The Life After tend to enjoy One Direction: This Is Us, Burn the Stage: The Movie, BTS World Tour: Love Yourself - Japan Edition and Senna.